


Waking Up To You

by SpicedGold



Series: The Nara Family [18]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Early Mornings, Gen, Short, snuggles and cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23631877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicedGold/pseuds/SpicedGold
Summary: There’s no point in waking up early, because it doesn’t make the day any better.. . . Well, one time it did.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Temari
Series: The Nara Family [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1160966
Comments: 13
Kudos: 224





	Waking Up To You

**Author's Note:**

> I've still got four weeks off from work and zero inspiration. The world is cruel. But I managed to get this finished, finally.  
> Someone inspire me!

Shikamaru almost never woke up first.

So it was a gentle, special moment to open his eyes and find Temari still there with him. He stayed where he was, very still, and just watched her for a minute.

It wasn’t surprising that she was still asleep – she had come home late in the night, exhausted after a long mission, and Shikamaru had vaguely awoken long enough to ascertain she was more or less in one piece before drifting off again.

Now, he could study her a bit more closely. Her hair was wild around her face, unbrushed and windswept, and the hand tucked loosely under her chin still had blood crusted under her nails. That worried him a bit.

Was it her blood, or someone else’s? One of the genin she had been dragging out on missions, or some sort of altercation with an enemy? He couldn’t see enough of her to make a fair assessment of her health.

She looked alright. She looked peaceful and relaxed, and Shikamaru wanted to push her hair back and smooth his fingers through her tangles and find out where that blood had come from, and kiss her good morning and do all the things he never got to do.

He knew she would wake up if he touched her, but the temptation was just too much. Slowly, gently, he shifted just enough to press his lips to her cheek.

Her eyes didn’t flicker open, but she did press closer to him, pushing her face firmly against his collarbone.

He wrapped his arms around her obligingly, burying one hand in her hair.

For a few moments, he let the silence linger. But before long, his worry took over, and he slid his hand down her side until he could feel the padding of the bandage under her shirt. She let out a sigh at the contact.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded against him.

“You sure?”

That earned a snort. “Yes, crybaby, I’m sure.”

“Gotta check.” He brushed a thumb over the bandage, just above her hip. “Never know if whatever medic you saw did a decent job patching you up.”

“It was Ino.”

“Then you’re probably fine.”

She nodded, staying contentedly against him. Another rare moment; usually she was up and out of bed as soon as she woke. Temari wasn’t one to linger and do nothing, and growing up in the desert had conditioned her to early rising before stifling heat took over.

“What happened?” Shikamaru let his hand wander further, checking for any other obvious injuries.

“That’s the only one.” She caught his hand, pulling it back up to rest over the wound. “It’s not that deep. Just took a knife in the side getting one of the stupid genin out the way.”

And that was why he worried so much – she willingly took hits for the less experienced shinobi. She did whatever she could to keep them safe, even if it meant putting herself in harm’s way. When she was out alone, Shikamaru never had to stress. He had no doubt she would return, powerful and unscathed, as she had done dozens of times before.

But when she took genin teams out – it wasn’t frequent, but she was a stand-in if any of the Jounin instructors weren’t available – he worried extensively over her safety.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” he sighed.

“Would you let them die?” she asked, raising her head and looking firmly into his eyes.

For a second, he was lost in the forest-green of them, but he recovered his wits enough to answer, “No.”

“Exactly.” She stuck her face back against him, and he couldn’t help the flicker of worry at this unusual behavior. There was something else, something she wasn’t telling him. He waited for a few minutes, to see if she would talk unprompted, but when she just stayed snuggled against him, his concern won over.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, pulling his fingers through her hair. “Because you never just lie in bed with me unless something is wrong.”

“There’s nothing wrong, exactly,” she looked up at him, some sort of bright sparkle in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. “But I was told to take a few days off so you and I can talk and plan.”

“Plan what?”

“Remember New Years?”

“I remember being too drunk to remember it. Why?” Shikamaru frowned, wondering why she was bringing that up.

“Remember what we did after the party? We were not as careful as usual.”

“Again, drunk. I have a vague recollection of one of us dragging the other to bed. I could not tell you who was dragging who.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Temari drew back a bit to look at him. “Clearly, you have no idea what I’m getting at.”

“I really don’t. Did you hit your head?”

She rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Sure? You’re being weird.”

“I’m not being weird-“

“Something’s wrong,” Shikamaru drew back, throwing the blankets aside and yanking Temari’s shirt – _his_ , actually; she had a bad habit of constantly stealing his clothes - up to inspect the bandage covering her side. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

She sighed, letting him prod and poke at her. “Okay, I really didn’t think I’d need to spell this out for you, but clearly that genius brain of yours is not firing on all cylinders this morning.”

“You’re the one who got stabbed, and told me you’re fine, and then that you need time off from work, and those two things don’t add up, and you’re bringing up new years’, and whatever we did then, and-“

“Shikamaru,” she interrupted, cupping his cheek with one hand. “Calm down. I’m fine.”

“Then what are you not telling me and what happened at the hospital?”

“Can’t you figure it out?” Temari laughed. “Hold on, try one more time. I got stabbed in the side, and when I got checked out at the hospital, I was told I’m going to be fine, but you and I have something important to discuss. And remember New Years and the lack of responsibility from us both?”

He stared at her dumbly.

Temari made an aggravated sound, flopping onto her back, “You dense idiot, I’m _pregnant_ , you stupid moron.”

There was a deafening silence.

Shikamaru blinked at her.

After a long minute of silence, Temari added hesitantly, “. . . That okay? I know we didn’t think this would happen for a few more months, but-“ She cut herself off when Shikamaru flung his arms around her and crushed her to his chest.

She couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped her as she hugged him back. “Seems like it’s okay.”

“Thank you,” he breathed.

“Well . . . can’t take all the credit. You helped.” Temari dug her fingers into his back. Shikamaru didn’t seem like he was planning to let go of her anytime soon, so she just relaxed in his grasp.

She let the silence hang over them, smiling broadly against Shikamaru.

After a long time, he murmured, “Tem?”

“Yeah?”

“You have got to stop taking genin teams out.” He finally pulled back enough to look at her, dark eyes laced with concern. “If you’re gonna be jumping in front of knives, and acting like a hero-“

“Relax,” she shrugged. “I already had this lecture at the hospital. Anyway, I’ve got the Chuunin exam planning to worry about, so that’ll keep me busy for a few weeks.”

Shikamaru pulled her close again, closing his eyes and just letting the moment sink in. There was a light, bubbly feeling in his chest and he wanted to laugh, or cry – preferably not; he didn’t feel like getting teased – and he already had a hundred questions in his head that needed answers. “You’re not working after that.”

“Yes, I am.”

“No. I’ll get Naruto to pull you off the mission roster tomorrow-“

“Don’t be a dumbass, Ino already said I can keep doing missions until-“

“No, you’re the dumbass, you’re staying home and resting-“

“I’ll kick your ass; I’m not sitting at home for seven months-“

Shikamaru let her go, and Temari propped herself up on his chest, cocking her head at him slightly. He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re staying home. This isn’t something we take risks on.”

“I’m working, because I’m perfectly capable of it, and I’m not taking months off when there is nothing wrong with me.”

“Nothing wrong? You’re pregnant.”

“That’s perfectly natural.”

“So is dying on missions.”

Temari raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Are you going to be like this the entire time?”

“Like what? The only sensible one? The only one thinking ahead-“

“Freaking out,” she clarified, with a grin that made him melt.

“I don’t freak out,” Shikamaru grumbled. “And why aren’t you?”

“I’ll probably freak out later,” she said dismissively. “You know, when it’s sunk in.”

Shikamaru stared at her, mind racing ahead. He ran his hand through her hair again, both overwhelmed and perfectly grounded at the same time.

“We’re gonna have a baby,” Temari whispered, eyes shining bright.

“Yes, we are,” he murmured back. He slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled her forward into another firm embrace, feeling her sigh against his shoulder. The sun was starting to reach them now, through a gap in the curtains, and it promised to be a beautiful day.

Shikamaru buried his nose in Temari’s hair, closing his eyes and squeezing her lightly.

Clearly, he should wake up first more often.

The rewards were well worth it.


End file.
